The world’s first turbine with carbon-reduced steel tower and recyclable rotor blades has been installed in Denmark’s largest offshore wind farm.

In total, 72 wind turbines, each with a capacity of up to 15MW, will be installed by the end of 2026, and half of these will be equipped with steel towers produced with a lower carbon footprint, while 40 turbines will feature a total of 120 recyclable rotor blades.

Sven Utermöhlen, CEO RWE Offshore Wind, said: “Offshore wind already has one of the lowest life-cycle carbon footprints of power generation technologies. At RWE, our ambition is to go even further. By using towers produced with greener steel and recyclable rotor blades, we are further reducing the carbon footprint and taking a significant step towards fully circular offshore wind.”

RWE is the first company to use Siemens Gamesa’s GreenerTower. The tower plates are made from steel that produces at least 63 per cent lower carbon emissions than conventional steel. The certified production process limits emissions by using renewable-powered furnaces and scrap steel, for example. In addition, recyclable rotor blades use an innovative resin meaning that the composite materials in these blades can be separated and reused, for instance in new casting applications in the automotive or consumer goods industries. RWE is already using recyclable rotor blades at its offshore wind farms Kaskasi in Germany and Sofia in the UK.

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